Seeking time away from his job at the University of Chicago, Nathan Price is taking a sabbatical to finish his novel, but when he receives a journal written in the seventeenth century, his plans change. The journal belonged to Esther Porter who was hanged during the Salem Witch trials in 1692. At the back of her journal is a love letter written by Jamie Mackinnon, Nathan's best friend who disappeared six months ago. None of this makes sense, and the only clue Nathan has to Jamie's disappearance is a brief mention of Carthage, Wisconsin. Could Nathan's best friend really have traveled through time, and if he did, can Nathan find a way to bring his friend home again?

Carthage is not at all what Nathan expected. The townspeople are hiding something about Jamie's disappearance, but Nathan can't help but fall in love with the serenity of the place. In Carthage, he's finally found a place he can be himself, and he's found a woman who might be able to accept him as he is. When other people begin to disappear, Nathan must do what he can to find his missing friend and save the woman he's come to love.

AUTUMN IN CARTHAGE by Christopher Zenos is a book about time-travel, mysterious disappearances, and finding sanctuary from a world that doesn't accept those who are "different." On the whole, what is an interesting concept is buried beneath a self-indulgent, sarcastic, and an un- empathetic protagonist. This character goes so far as to say that readers only want likable characters because reality is too ugly and that novels written now pander to people's need to escape into a fairy tale world. This is inaccurate and so frustrating that I had to set the book down carefully and walk away.

First, there is a difference between likable, sympathetic characters and characters who are empathetic. Sympathetic means I understand the struggles but cannot feel them as my own. I look at these characters, likable or not, and feel sorry for what is happening to them, but I am removed from it. It is not my pain or emotions. This creates unwanted distance between the protagonist's struggle and the reader. An empathetic character is one I root for to win because it means that I feel that victory as my own.

There are characters who are not nice, who are not likable but who are truly empathetic. They're compelling because they're complex and real. Perfect examples are Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange and Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. These men are evil, depraved, and scary. They are perfectly wretched human beings, but they are fascinating characters; their victories and defeats will feel like the reader's victories and defeats. That's my opinion of good writing.

AUTUMN IN CARTHAGE by Christopher Zenos is obviously a labor of love for the author. Unfortunately, the underlying worldview expressed in this novel is so radically different than mine that I struggled to finish it. I couldn't connect with the main character and because of this the plot read achingly slow. I can't recommend AUTUMN IN CARTHAGE, but that doesn't mean other readers won't like it.